On Wednesday and Thursday, Huff stopped at every school in the district, met with the entire staff in each building, and a great deal of time in each session was spent with the superintendent describing the harm that has been inflicted on the district, and of course, on the kids, by Randy Turner.
The Huff tour took place during the 24-hour period right before he made his announcement about the delay of the scheduled Monday, August, 25, opening of the new Joplin High School, so that was a prime focus of concern during the meeting with high school teachers and staff, but even there Huff asked for help in dealing with the menace posed to the district by the Turner Report.
Huff delivered slightly differing messages at each of the schools, but essentially he said these things:
-The only reason the Turner Report has gained readers is that "people are tired," otherwise Randy Turner would have been struck down long ago by people who know that his writing is "hurting the school district." and "hurting the kids."
-Huff said that the Turner Report did not have a following right after the tornado because people were "pulling together" at that time. (Actually, the Turner Report readership reached its highest level ever for several months after the tornado.) Now, Huff says, people are reading the blog because they are "tired and grumpy."
-Huff said I am a "rumor monger" and do not even try to print the truth and can write any lie I want to about him because C. J. Huff is a public figure.
-He told the teachers that if any of them were in his place they would have fired me, too.
-At some of the stops, including at all three middle schools, Huff said I had "furnished pornographic material" to 150 students.
-If the Turner Report is successful in its attacks on the district, it will make it almost impossible to get a needed tax levy increase to replace the aging buildings at Columbia and West Central.
-Huff made it clear that he will use taxpayers' time and money (though he did not use that phrase) to start a social media war against the Turner Report. This started recently with his creation of a blog. He asked teachers and staff to help him by sharing his blog on their social networks and by spreading the word about all of the good things that are going on in Joplin Schools.
Teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels told the Turner Report that teachers were "uncomfortable" listening to the superintendent attacking me. Some described his behavior as "unprofessional."
34 comments:
Instead of a plan b, Huff is ready with a damage plan. Blame to fall on Mr. Turner and the tired and angry? Not only is Huff unprepared, unprofessional and out of touch with the majority of the community, he is also in dire need of a better spin doctor. Pathetic!
Someone needs to record these speeches…. and broadcast them.
Sounds like a thinly veiled threat to district employees..."Don't speak against me, or you will be fired."
The tax levy will not pass because of reckless spending and a lack of trust In the district. This is CJ Huff's fault (and the Board's, too)...not Turner's.
Huff suggests Turner is "hurting the school district" and "the kids", but he overlooked the actual target: Turner is hurting Huff. That is the only person Turner is hurting, and that is the only person Huff is actually concerned about, himself.
Huff is not a smart man; he is only setting himself up to be further humiliated. Guerrilla tactics (like those the Americans used against the British) are effective in part due to the psychological effect on the target. If Huff is making a concerted effort to talk about Turner to staff, this is wasted energy that could be better applied to actually performing better as a superintendent thus rendering Turner's criticisms ineffective.
What Huff fails to realize is that Turner's popularity is in part owed to people agreeing with him. If people were so easily influenced as Huff would have us believe, then Huff should hold more sway given that he has greater access to media. Turner is a free blog on the web, Huff has the largest area newspaper and television stations in addition to school district websites and social media. If Huff cannot successfully combat Turner's influence with all of that, either Turner is onto something or Huff is an incredibly ineffectual leader (or perhaps both). Huff's own logic dictates this must be the case, given his belief that people are so easily led astray by words.
Well said, 9:30!
Dr. Huff must be huffing on something if thinks he will ever get another cent of tax levy from Joplin voters. It will never,ever, ever happen. I don't even know if I could sell my home at this point, because anyone that know's anything of what spending spree Huff and the board have been on, know's that the will try to get it back with a tax levy! He is nuts.
Anonymous @9:30 AM: Randy has also "harmed" some of Huff's top level staff by reporting what they've done, in one case causing multiple lawsuits with one expensive settlement so far. As I noted in a previous comment, it's terrifying that man has been responsible for building the new high school, and I'd add that fact also explains more than a few things.
Pity about those Constitutionally enumerated rights of freedom of speech and of the press....
As long as C. J. Huff has the school board in his hip pocket - nothing will change and C. J. will not leave.
The only solution is to recall the compliant school board members or continue to add new members like Dr. Fort on the school board (a longer process).
F*** Huff.
Amen 9:30!
Amen 9:30!
I don't think the voters would approve a one cent increase, even if Randy Turner was not around to tell the
"rest of the story"
We may be smarter than Huff thinks!
We trusted the district to be sensible with the tax dollars. They wasted that trust and the money.
Of course I'm For The Kids... I'm also for common sense and a school board that listens to the teachers, parents and tax payers.
The fact that he feels the need to address this blog at all shows some desperation on his part. The idea that you have to support Huff in order to support Joplin schools or the kids is absurd. The kids were fine before Huff got here, and they will be fine when he leaves.
I was in the meeting that Dr. Huff had with the high school. I cannot speak for what was said when he spoke to staff at other schools, but I can assure you that your name was NEVER mentioned in the meeting I attended. Get over yourself.
2:39-
Many people were in that pathetic meeting that was supposedly called so they could discuss their opinions about whether or not the school year should be delayed. Instead they got to listen to Huff talk about the negative forces determined to destroy the district, despite the alarming amount of evidenced indicating that HE and his board have spent it into the ground. Turner's name mentioned? No. But implied. So, look at the facts, and ask yourself how pathetic it is that a superintendent lowers himself to these things, and asks a staff he has not rewarded with decent raises for six years, despite giving himself ridiculous raises in the same time span. Get some facts and get past the fairy tale. Take the same advice you gave Turner.
The rants he has had at the schools and at the meetings with classified staff where he mentions Turner by name and accuses him of exposing children to pornography scream of a defamation suit to me. Anyone with any sense at all, which excludes 2:39, would realize that had Turner done so, he would be sitting in jail with Myers and the other R8 employees found guilty of illicit behaviors with minors, and Huff hid the Myer's porn story from the board and the parents of the students involved.
Huff is an embarrassment to this community and needs to step down. His desperation is quite apparent. He proves once again that honesty is always the best policy.
To the person making the arrogant comment about the high school meeting, Turner quite clearly says Huff said different things at different meetings. I was at one of the middle school meetings. Huff mentioned Turner by name several times and also made the accusation that Turner had provided porn to 150 kids. I have also read the transcript of Turner's hearing, which Turner has made available to us for free last year. I don't agree with Huff's characterization of No Child Left Alive as porn, but Huff and his team could not find one child who had even read the book. My guess is that the 150 refers to the number of students Mr. Turner has in his class. The transcript also shows clearly that Mr. Turner never assigned any students to read his book. I am ashamed to work for a man who is willing to make the worst kind of accusations you can make about a human being when he knows they are not true. There are major differences between CJ Huff and Randy Turner, but the major ones that stand out are that when Turner makes accusations against Huff he backs them up with documents and sources. When Huff makes accusations against Turner, he lies. If you think that is not the case, just look at the evidence. It has been more than one year since Huff fired someone who is a gifted educator, something Huff will never be. In that time, Huff not only has been unable to come up with any dirt on Turner, but he resorts to using the same stories that were proven to be lies over a year ago. The Board of Education has to know it has been lied to. It is time for the board to take the next step and restore some dignity and sanity to the district.
I can see why Huff had Turner fired. In the book No Child Left Alive the superintendent, a narcissist who thinks of himself first, takes credit for his female assistant superintendent's ideas. In Joplin, those ideas were not so great, but they are certainly better than anything Huff has come up with on his own. I don't want Besendorfer back, but it is clear that CJ needs a babysitter.
I was at a meeting at one of the elementary schools. Dr. Huff mentioned Mr. Turner by name.It was unsettling and unseemly for him to spend so much time trying to force teachers to fight his fight for him.
Despite what 2:39 says, the information in this post is accurate.
Dr. Teachers and Staff,
Gosh, golly, gee whiz, please overlook the fact that for several years now I've been firing your colleagues and making you miserable, as well as reducing your pay and setting my spies on you. I need your help now. That big, bad Randy Turner is putting evidence of my misdeeds on his blog, and I don't have anything to use against him but slander. Won't you please help me defeat the forces of evil in this town? I know you don't get paid squat and you have to work harder for what little I begrudge you, but geez, he's so much more prepared than I am. Please? Hmm? Pleeeez? With sugar on top? Maybe I'll let you wear jeans for $5 every day if you'll donate the money to the district! Let's just all be friends now, okay? No harm done.
I'm sure that's what I heard.
2:39 is probably one of his trolls dependent on him to keep their cushy jobs. Every building has them. We don't have reading teachers, but we do have those. They sure as heck don't want back in the classroom. They sold their souls to get out. So they'll stick with their daddy CJ for sure.
Any super having to stoop this low just needs fired. A half assed smart one would leave on his own, but then if he was half as smart as an ass he might not be in this mess.
I wonder if the Board is aware of the fact that their superintendent of schools is going to every building to make the staff uncomfortable. Instead of sending Tina, he's taking his own intimidation act out on the road. I would guess there are some of the fairy tale lovers out there who still believe him, but most of us resent those meetings. Such unprofessional behavior should be grounds for dismissal, but I'm sure the Board doesn't understand that this is not normal behavior for a superintendent. If they were truly aware of expected behaviors, they would have canned him the first time he lied to them.
RA says:
I was wondering if the ego maniac will waste his day tomorrow and flaunt himself on a photo-op tour with all the K-kids? "For the kids" of course!
Will C.J.'s personal financial statement be included in the audit that is taking place right now? If it is, how will he explain not listing his speaking engagement fees? And if it's not included in the school district audit, when will he be held accountable for it? And isn't THAT in itself enough to force his resignation?
Bill, I sent the information on his Missouri Ethics Commission financial disclosure statements to the state auditors so they are aware of it. And to RA, it is probably just a coincidence, but the superintendent in my novel No Child Left Alive also has his photo taken with all of the kindergarten students each year.
4:00 you are exactly right!! And BECAUSE he protected a pedophile, aided and abetted as far as I'm concerned by keeping him employed, that makes him a pedophile by proxy! He doesn't care about the children, he only cares about King Huff n'Stuff his pockets!!!
Huff is NOT allowed to take his photo with MY Kindergartener! It was made quite clear with the school!
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
Mahatma Gandhi
s8:30...his personal finances SHOULD be included. I know he makes good money, but have you ever seen his wife's extravagant living style? They do NOT go without! And she is not employed, so its not as if though it is a two income household. I know several superintendents of larger school districts that don't get to live such an extreme lifestyle!
I appreciate this blog. It helps one to stay aware of what is happening within the school system. I was truly disappointed with the high school building because it should have been an opportunity to have used the latest "safe" technology at a far less expensive cost. Many people I know just shake their head over the expense for athletic practice fields and lighted multiple tennis courts. The lack of attention given to Vocational Technology programs that could actually prepare people for jobs is also a shame.
Not surprised. I worked closely with Bright Futures of Joplin, and heard first hand from both Huff and Kim Vann how much they despised you. These weren't just casual rants either. Both of them would bring you up during various staff meetings. A former co-worker of mine who just left the admin building, said that everyone is afraid for their jobs and they've created a culture of fear.
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